Country study Burkina Faso
Biodiversity

3.4 THREATS

The threats concerned in this chapter are constraints and trends,
which impede the objective of conservation and rational or sustainable
use of biological diversity. Those endangering biological diversity in
Burkina Faso are in general of climatic and human origins. On this
specific level, there are many threats, which also impede efforts of
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

Because of the objet of the impact of such and such a threat, this
may be considered as a general threat applying to all the biological
diversity, or as specific harming one or a few species.

Biological diversity in Burkina has been subjected since the 70°s
to major threats, which disturb ecosystems and cause loss of species.

3.4.1.1 Drought and desiccation

Drought is defined as a period of one or two years whose rainfall
is less than the average (TOULMIN C, 1993). Scientists think droughts
have always been a tragic and concomitant phenomenon of life in the
Sahel. Thus, drought periods have marked the history of Sahelian
countries. Their resulting duration, scope and damages have constantly
increased in the recent 100 years (LEISINGER K. M./SCHMITT K., 1992).

Droughts have disrupted the equilibrium of many ecosystems and led
to devastating effects on croplands and cattle. Today, the
consequences felt express themselves through both economic
impoverishment of populations and the impoverishment of biological
diversity.

The droughts from 1968 to 1973, with a volume of rains of 15 to 40%
less than the average, resulted in losses of harvests and cattle,
aggravating at the same time the competition for land use. Plant and
animal production systems have had to undergo modifications in order
to adapt to the situation. Farmers abandoned their traditional
varieties with often a long cycle to adopt new varieties with shorter
cycle. Therefore, an impoverishment of the genetic patrimony was being
done unwillingly. Thus, many cultivated varieties of plant species
were abandoned or lost. The droughts have often led to the consumption
of seeds following famines they cause.

The transformation of natural spaces (habitats of forestry or
aquatic fauna) leads ipso facto to the decline, even the extinction of
some species of fauna dependent of these milieux. The disruption in
land use leads to the displacement of populations towards zones, which
are relatively favourable to agricultural and pastoral activities.

As to desiccation phenomena they are translated into the decrease
in the groundwater table, the drying up of streams and the death of
the vegetation, particularly of ligneous species. CAMILLA TOULMIN
defines desiccation as an aridity process resulting from a dry period
whose duration is termed in decades. It leads inevitably to the loss
of ligneous and herbaceous vegetation, the drying up of some water
bodies, the decrease in the level of the groundwater table, etc.

The droughts of the 70°s and the persistent irregularity of
rainwater in recent years have clearly uncovered the need to have
production systems adapted to climatic variations and capable of
producing the minimum required. In these conditions, it is imperative
to have a wide range of species, which are more productive and more
resistant to drought.

3.4.1.2 Demographic growth and population movements

In 1960 the population of Burkina was 4 300 000 inhabitants, while
in 1991 it was estimated at 9 190 000 inhabitants. The significant
consequences resulting from this important demographic growth are, for
example, the increase in land pressure and the rise in the demand for
food, clothes, housing, health care, education and employment. In
Burkina Faso, the satisfaction of the economic needs of the
populations mainly comes from the exploitation of biological
resources.

3.4.1.3 Bush fires

In Burkina Faso, bush fires constitute one of the main threats to
the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. These
fires are customary (as part of customary ceremonies), criminal
(intentional) or accidental. Every year, tens of thousands of hectares
of forests are destroyed by fire. If the phenomenon is not quickly
controlled, all the expected objectives from the protection and the
development of natural formations in favour of sustainable development
will be compromised.

3.4.1.4 Degradation of soils

Soil degradation is a notion that can be related to the extent of
soil exploitation. In effect, it is caused by the inappropriate
methods of land use in careless delicate or fragile ecological
conditions. Like any production means, soil deteriorates and needs to
be recapitalised. Yet, in the case of Burkina Faso, usually when soil
deteriorates, it does not benefit from inputs to enable its
restoration, hence the aggravation of the process. Besides, the
phenomenon of desertification and overpopulation, which result in the
scarcity of croplands leads to the reduction or abandonment of the
fallow period. All these realities no longer permit the biological
diversity to renew itself as it should.

3.4.1.5 Policies of natural resources management

Policies of natural resources management aim at attaining expected
results in order to ensure the well-being of populations. However,
some development policies do not comply with the concern of
sustainable development so much sought today.

In effect, in a country with limited resources like Burkina Faso,
there are often tendencies to meet immediate objectives at the
detriment of biological diversity:

the cultivation of yam and cotton which always need rich soils,
explaining in this way the massive and shifting clearing, which
does not save plant species, disrupt ecosystems, render vulnerable
the fauna the latter shelter;

the abandonment of local varieties and breeds of cereals and
domestic species in favour of the more productive and exotic ones.

At the institutional and legal levels, there are also the following
situations which do not facilitate the conservation and sustainable
use of biological diversity:

since land belongs to the State and not to the person using it,
the latter does not carry out sustainable investments, such as
plantations, fearing to be disapproved one day;

traditional land system, based on land concession,
particularly temporary loans, constitutes a system of land
insecurity for the beneficiary.

At the strategic level, there are two main threats on biological
diversity. They are:

the lack of a true environmental education Programme which
effectively mobilises all the population for the protection of the
environment;

the lack of knowledge concerning the endemism of flora and fauna
specifies, which does not permit to consider specific actions in
favour of those that would be threatened.

As underlined earlier, specific threats in our case are those whose
impact concerns only one or a few components of biological diversity.

3.4.2.1 Specific threats to flora

The following non-exhaustive list gives the specific threats to
flora:

overexploitation of raw materials of plant origin;

overgrazing resulting from excessive grazing of fodder and
trampling of the herbaceous stratum by cattle;

uncontrolled agro-pastoral practices;

the introduction of invading species which in the long run
prevent the development of other species (case of water hyacinths
and attacks from parasites);

shifting cultivation which calls for new clearing as the farm
becomes less productive;

pollution of water due to the use of pesticides, which leads to
the mortality of some aquatic plant species;

excessive logging;

genetic erosion following the abandonment of local varieties;

silting of water bodies.

3.4.2.2 Specific threats to fauna

The specific threats to fauna are as follows :

poaching, with as adverse effect the insecurity of officers in
charge of the protection of fauna;
· overexploitation of synergetic and halieutic resources;

genetic erosion through the abandonment of local breeds;

practices susceptible, in the medium or long term, of leading to
a significant loss in the diversity of domestic animals; it is the
adoption of new breeds of big size (e.g.: sheep, goats, hens) at
the detriment of local breeds which are naturally more adapted to
local conditions, and the preference of males as compared to
females for practical reasons or conveniences (e.g. : donkeys,
horses, dogs, etc.);

lack of gene banks of domestic animals;

decline or extinction of species of aquatic fauna resulting from
the decrease in water quantity;

destruction of or attacks on habitats;

silting of water bodies;

pollution of water due to the use of pesticides, which leads to
the mortality of some aquatic species.